Accelerating Product Development in Automotive Manufacturing with Simulation

Every design or material change to a critical automotive part poses the risk of significant cost and delay to prototype and prove out the new part and its production process. A strategic partnership with a manufacturing supplier equipped to support engineering changes to part designs can be key to controlling this expense. This was the case with one manufacturer recently transitioning to high-strength steel for a complex formed part. The material change created the need for changes in tooling, meaning the accuracy, repeatability and tool life all had to be established for the new process. Working closely with a manufacturing partner offering both simulation technology and rapid prototyping allowed the new process for the new part to be developed with minimal rework, time and cost.

Examples of forming issues with tall chimneys made of high-strength steel. Cracks, bulges and deformities can directly affect functionality.

Case Study: Engineering a Cost-Effective, High-Precision Component

Our customer, a leading automotive manufacturer, sought to enhance a seat recliner component by eliminating heat treatment through the use of high-strength steel. However, the transition posed several challenges. Part of making the component is forming a tall chimney feature with reduced wall thickness compared to earlier part designs while maintaining strict tolerances. Meanwhile, ensuring gear profile precision is crucial to the component’s function. Tooling capable of high-volume production with minimal wear would be key to this dimensional stability. Discovering whether the tooling can perform this way through trial-and-error in production would have been costly.

Feintool simulation technology enables the required parameters to be achieved before single tooling stations are built and tested.

Leveraging Process Simulation for Optimization

Feintool’s engineers developed a comprehensive, data-driven simulation strategy using finite element analysis software tailored to the physics of metal forming. The team used digital analysis to find the optimal sequence for forming and cutting the chimney. By discovering and ruling out less effective options before committing to physical tooling, the team was able to significantly reduce the number of iterations required.
And within this analysis, force and load simulation allowed engineers to identify necessary adjustments to tool geometry, reducing concentrated loading to extend tool life. This approach enabled a first-time-right manufacturing strategy when it came time to produce the physical tooling.

An Integrated Single-Tool Solution

A major breakthrough in this project was the seamless integration of forming, cutting, and coining into a single tool, offering significant advantages. By mirroring operations through the press center point, tool stability and force balance are maintained, eliminating material stress propagation. This approach not only prevents part distortions but also extends tool life by reducing stress-related wear. In-tool processes such as deburring and chamfering further refine the process, ensuring superior quality and streamlined production for two seat recliner components now redesigned for the stronger material.

Feintool tooling machine eliminates titling, force imbalance and influence from other stations.

The new process forms a tall, thin-wall chimney to tight tolerances, holds critical flatness and gear profile requirements, and does so within a process that eliminates heat treatment and secondary machining.

The Competitive Edge of Simulation Technology

The case study above underscores the critical role of simulation-driven design and rapid prototyping in automotive manufacturing. By partnering with a knowledgeable supplier, manufacturers can continue to advance part designs even by implementing material changes, and still achieve first-time-right manufacturing with minimal trial and error.

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